Zeitgeist
by Hefster
Summary: The Fourth Great Shinobi World War didn't end with the destruction of the Akatsuki. Konohagakure lies in ruins thanks to Iwa and Kumo banding together and only a handful of Leaf shinobi are left, their final stand however is interrupted. NarutoxHinata!
1. Prologue

Hello everyone! Once again, my muse ran off on it's own and came back with another story idea. I am delighted to bring this story to you all. In a sense, this is the long promised **NaruHina** story that I had promised **KingKakashi** a long time ago. I think back then I was high on something because as most of you know, I tend to write **NaruSaku**. I am actually enjoying this story a lot at the moment and it's helping me in getting my muses going again for my other stories.

Up front, I'd like to tell you all that this is a Time Travel fiction. AU is definitely possible and I am not going to apologize for the hinting of **NaruSaku** because it's nothing more than a sentence or two. Besides, this way I was able to squash my inner Sakura muse. Fear not, this will remain a pure **NaruHina** story!

Anywho, enjoy this story and let me know what you think of it. Consider the usual disclaimer of almost everything belonging to someone else.

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**Passage of Time**

Zeitgeist

Prologue

The First Great Shinobi World War was fought within the infant stages of the concept of one shinobi village per country and it ended as quickly as it had started. The casualties were tremendous and the tactics that had been employed were devastating and had become edged into the minds of the shinobi. For it was thanks to the first Great War that the system of four man squads was established.

Each village had their own opinion of how to run their squad system and the war was used to find the optimal balance between effectiveness and survivability. And it was during that time that the first Hokage Senju Hashirama divided the tailed beasts and presented them to the other shinobi villages as a gift and peace offering.

Sadly, the peace offer of the tailed beast didn't lead to a time of peace. Instead it only increased the chaos that had engulfed the entire continent of the elemental nations. This was also the last act that Senju Hashirama did as the Hokage for Konohagakure. His younger brother took on the mantle of Hokage, only to pass it on to his student Sarutobi Hiruzen shortly after.

This had made Konoha look weak in the eyes of the other villages. It was the Leaf that had already lost two Kage level ninja, and if it hadn't been for the quick actions of young Sarutobi, Konohagakure and Fire Country would have been destroyed by its enemies. It is unclear how the Sandaime Hokage was able to usher in an era of peace for his people but his actions ultimately lead to peace throughout the entire continent.

Some say that the people had grown tired and weary of the constant thread of impending doom and therefore had demanded peace from their shinobi leaders. Others claim that a deadlock had been reached between the five great nations of Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water. Ultimately the fragile peace lead to treaties amongst the great nations and the illusion of peace filled the minds of the people. However, shinobi records indicated that the villages were merely using this hard won time in order to train new recruits and strengthen their borders. Unbeknownst to all, the shinobi nations had begun a secretive cold war as they tried to win the upper hand over their enemies by any means necessary.

Assassinations had become an increasing threat and the villages were in dire need of protection. With the help of his former teammates, the Sandaime Hokage introduced a special assassination and tactical squad called the ANBU. The success behind the formation of the ANBU was paid tenfold as countless assassination attempts upon the Hokage and village elders came to a screeching halt. This forced the other villages into introducing their own version of Black Obs shinobi.

The constant arms race eventually led to the Second Great Shinobi World War. A war that once again devastated the villages and the foundations they were built upon. At first, most countries were satisfied with small border skirmishes, however, there was one small nation called Amegakure that no longer wanted the wars of the great nations to be fought on its territory and went to war with the two nations that would use Rain country as their battlegrounds.

Konohagakure and Kumogakure would have easily crushed the smaller Amegakure, had that village not been protected by their leader. At the time that man was heralded as one of the strongest ninja the world had ever seen. It was Hanzo the Salamander, who single handedly kept the two strongest military nations at bay. And as individual shinobi came to fame during this war, the loss of life had become too great to bear and the wars that were fought eventually disappeared.

And as peace had slowly re-entered the countries, it was equally quickly shattered as Sunagakure's Third Kazekage went missing. It is said that the village went searching for their Kage so intently that it led to smaller border skirmishes along Wind country's borders. It was Iwagakure, who used these troubled times and launched a massive invasion upon Fire country in the hopes of defeating one of their biggest rivals. Iwa believed Konoha to be still weakened from the fighting it had been subjugated to against Kumogakure and Amegakure during the Second Great War and therefore hoped for a quick and decisive victory.

This was the time of Konoha's Yellow Flash, a young man, who had been named the Yondaime Hokage – a genius in his own right. His development of the Hirashin no Jutsu gave him the ability to instantly teleport from one position to another. He single handedly crushed Iwagakure's forces with this ability and turned the tide of the war in favor of Konohagakure and forced peace upon the nations with an unspoken threat that he would not hesitate to use the Hirashin.

Then came Konoha's darkest hour, or so many had believed. The proud village hidden in the leaves was suddenly attacked by a monster, a demon monster that was called the Kyuubi no Youko. This nine tailed demon fox lay waste to Konoha's forces as it was secretly commanded to do so by one of Konoha's own founding fathers', one Uchiha Madara.

The sacrifice was made and the Yondaime Hokage died defending his village by sealing the mighty demon fox within his own freshly born son. Unknowingly to the Yondaime Hokage, he left his son to the wolves in sheep clothing. Upon his death, the famed Yellow Flash made a simple request to honor his heritage in the hopes his parentless son would find the comfort and love from the village that he so much needed. Yet Uchiha Madara was not satisfied and his quest for Konoha's destruction was still spurning on the mad driven Uchiha elder.

And this was the birth of the world's greatest crime syndicate that housed the strongest and most dangerous shinobi to have ever lived. These individuals heralded from many different villages and all were swayed by the promise of power and wealth. They betrayed their friends, their comrades, and their homes, and all danced to the mad driven puppeteer that was Uchiha Madara. Akatsuki was also the reason behind the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. In their quest to collect all nine Bijuu, they garnered the wrath of the shinobi villages and this marked a never before seen partnership between the five great nations.

The best of the best met the worst of the worst on the battlefield and the ensuing destruction was believed to have driven the urge to fight from the shinobi minds and usher in an era of unprecedented peace. Yet as thousands died during the fourth war that was said to have been the last great war to ever be fought, old tensions and animosities rose back to the surface and as Akatsuki along with Uchiha Madara were destroyed, the five nations quickly turned on each other in the hope of crushing their old enemies.

The surfacing of the Yondaime Hokage's legacy was the cause for Iwagakure and Kumogakure to rain hell upon Konohagakure. The knowledge of a Namikaze heir drove those countries into a blood frenzy that could only be sated with the utter destruction of the Leaf.

Tremendously weakened by the Fourth Great War, Konoha was hard pressed in stemming the tide of Rock and Cloud shinobi. Hadn't it been for the individual sacrifices of some of Konoha's most promising shinobi during the battle against the Akatsuki, Konoha would have never been an easy target. Yet the clock had finally reached midnight and the proud village hidden amongst the leaves stood burning.

Pillaged by the joint armies of Iwa and Kumo, Konohagakure was no more. Standing on top of the Hokage monument, a badly injured Uzumaki Naruto shed tears of grief as he watched his dream go up in dark smoke. The few survivors had luckily been sent to Sunagakure weeks ago, who had graciously accepted the refugees and promised them protection from persecution. Those shinobi that weren't fit to fight or too young, were sent along with the refugees and had been ordered by their Hokage to join the ranks of Suna.

And upon the personal request of Uzumaki Naruto, the Godaime Hokage gave one final order to her people. She told them to find peace and not seek vengeance upon Iwagakure and Kumogakure for their actions against the Leaf.

"Naruto," Tsunade's weak frail voice drifted towards the blond as he looked out over his burning home with lifeless eyes. "It is time to make our last stand."

"I am coming Baa-chan," Naruto responded and wiped his tears out of his face.

The blond Jinchuuriki turned around and his cold darkened eyes filled with sadness looked at the few remaining shinobi that were still with him and had refused to retreat to Sunagakure. Too many of Naruto's friends had fallen during the hectic retreat of Konoha's forces, yet Naruto was filled with pride knowing that not a single Leaf shinobi went down without a fight. It was said that a trapped animal would fight viciously if it were cornered and the Leaf shinobi proofed said saying plenty during their retreat. For every fallen Leaf ninja, twenty enemy Nins fell first. At this stage the war had taken on a mind of its own and the price for this war had far outweighed the gain for Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

Naruto shook his head clear of his thoughts and looked with admiration at the ten remaining Leaf shinobi that still remained. Not a single one of the shinobi in front of him showed any fear or regret and a sense of calm suddenly enveloped Naruto and the blond couldn't help himself but smile.

"Well it looks like we're royally fucked," Naruto chuckled and was glad it brought a smile to all ten of his remaining comrades. "It was fun and an honor fighting alongside all of you."

"Likewise," everyone muttered as they all looked at each other. Some hugged, while others comforted each other by padding another on the shoulder and speaking a few wise words of encouragement.

"Baka!" Sakura growled as she stood with her arms on her hips while scowling. "Who said that we would lose this war? We're going to teach those bastards not to mess with Konoha."

"Hell yeah! Forehead is right!" Ino yelled and pushed her hand forward. She looked at everyone, "Let's make a promise to each of us. If we die, we make sure we take as many of those bastards with us and then we come back from the dead and get the rest."

"Shannaro!" Sakura muttered and placed her hand on top of Ino's.

"You two are being silly," Tsunade muttered but followed the example. The Hokage studied everyone patiently and frowned, "Don't make me have to turn this into an order you mangy dogs."

This brought another chorus of laughter from everyone and Kotetsu was the next one that followed the example and grinned. "I can't believe I am saying this but I'd much rather be on gate duty right now."

"You're just one lazy bum," Might Gai chuckled and flashed his famous grin and thumbs up as he placed his own hand into the circle. However, the pain of losing his rival was written clear as day upon his face and showed in the way of his behavior. Gone was the energetic Jounin whose spirit always burned brightly with the flames of youth.

"Indeed," Shino muttered and along with three ANBU that were the last remaining, joined the rest in placing their hands into the pile.

"Of course," Hinata said as she walked forward and placed her hand on top of the rest. Everyone turned towards Naruto who stood in place with an expression of shock and confusion.

"You ten are just too much for me," Naruto finally grinned. He was the last one to complete the circle of eleven and as each and everyone looked at each other, they all realized that each held the greatest respect for one another.

"To the will of fire," Tsunade finally broke the silence. "May it always burn brightly!"

"To Konoha," Naruto said.

"To our friends," Shino added.

"To our family," Sakura voiced and was quickly followed by Ino.

"To our lovers."

"Move out!" Tsunade ordered and knew that this was her last order she would ever have to give. "Never forget, you are the will of fire."

"Hai!" A chorused acknowledgment from everyone and they vanished to their respective positions.

They had opted to fall back to the long forgotten shinobi tradition. A tactic that had been the norm before the First Great Shinobi World War and had fallen out of practice with the foundation of the shinobi villages. A series of quick lethal surgical strikes in the night by a single shinobi was the new tactic the remaining Leaf shinobi had decided upon. Teamwork was thrown out the window as they attempted to force the enemy into using calculated formations. When the time came that the old shinobi tactic would no longer be successful, they had decided to regroup on top of the Hokage monument and launch an all-out assault as one massive unit with the surviving members.

The remaining leaf shinobi unleashed hell upon earth as the woods surrounding the burning Konoha was set ablaze with a combination of Katon and Futon jutsu. The night was filled with terrifying screams as the enemy shinobi were cut apart so fast that they had no idea what hit them. Only the most hardened and seasoned veterans had an inkling of suspicion and it took the conjoined effort of a dozen hardened warriors to lay a trap for one of the Konoha shinobi.

And as was expected, one of the last remaining Leaf defenders fell victim to the enemy's efforts. However, as it was the ANBU's specialty, upon death, his body erupted in fire in order to not divulge Intel to the enemy. And as a column of fire shot into the night sky, the remaining defenders knew that the final phase of their plan was to be set in motion.

Naruto arrived first on top of the Hokage monument and waited impatiently for the rest. He paced back and forth as his eyes looked out over the destruction below him. His head snapped towards another column of fire as it erupted into the night sky and Naruto sighed as he knew another ANBU had fallen. And as he mourned his loss, another fire column shot forth.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered his name in exhaustion as the indigo haired girl shunshin'd on top of the mountain.

"Hinata," Naruto called out to her in relief and pulled her into a hug. "Glad to see that you made it."

"Hai," Hinata muttered weakly. "Naruto-kun I ran into Kotetsu and Shino-san on my way here…"

"They aren't coming are they?" Naruto asked dreading Hinata's answer.

The Hyuuga heiress shook her head meekly and wiped several tears out of her face, as the memory of seeing her lifelong friend and teammate so brutally killed was still fresh in her mind.

"It is not your fault Hinata," Naruto said with assurance grasping her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"Do you know about anyone else?"

Hinata shook her head sadly, "I briefly ran into Ino-san but that was hours ago."

"Ino didn't make it," Sakura said as she appeared in a cherry blossom shunshin.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled in surprise and fear as he took in the sight of his teammate.

Sakura was bleeding from her right eye socket, a clear indication that she had lost one of her beautiful green-jaded orbs. The pinkette held herself proudly, but fatigue was written all over her body. Her hands were trembling from chakra exhaustion as they were clutching her bleeding stomach. Blood was already pooling at her feet and she smiled weakly at Naruto, who had immediately rushed towards her.

"I am fine," Sakura hissed through clenched teeth. She could taste her own blood and she knew she was done for. Her knees finally gave out and she dropped to the ground but was caught by Naruto and gently lowered to the ground.

"I am sorry Naruto-kun," Sakura whispered as blood began to seep out of the corners of her mouth.

"Sakura-chan you don't need to apologize. This was your decision," Naruto said and smiled warmly at her.

"No," Sakura objected as tears escaped her eyes. "I was once again selfish and should have listened to my instincts instead but… but I couldn't leave you. I couldn't let you do this by yourself again. I promised to never let you be alone again but it seems my selfishness cost me more than I bargained for."

Naruto frowned as he looked at Sakura's solemn expression. "Sakura-chan what are you talking about?"

"Naruto, do you remember the night we spent together?" Sakura asked the blond. "It was the night after you had finally killed Sasuke-kun and once again I had only sat on the sideline and couldn't do more than watching."

A blush flashed across Naruto's cheeks as he remembered the night they had spent together in each other's arms as they each looked for comfort from the pain they experienced off killing their wayward teammate. "Yes I do remember Sakura-chan."

"I am sorry Naruto," Sakura said again. "I should have never let that night happen."

"What?" Naruto almost shouted. "Don't say that Sakura-chan. It was one of my happiest moments. Please don't take that away from me."

"That's not what I mean," Sakura said as one of her bloody hands cupped his cheek. "I wanted to replace our pain with something happy, so… so I had Ino help me remove the anti-pregnancy seal and… Naruto I am sorry. I wanted to give you a son, but I failed and now it's too late."

"W-what? What are you talking about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in shock. "I never asked you… You should have never… Sakura-chan…"

"I am sorry Naruto," Sakura said again as the light slowly began to fade from her single eye. "I couldn't even do the simple thing of giving you what you most desired... Will you forgive me?"

"Of course," Naruto said through tear stained eyes.

"Thank you," Sakura whispered as her voice grew weak. "I'll see you on the other side Naruto-kun." And with those words, the last remaining life force left Sakura's body and her hand fell from Naruto's cheek and flopped onto the ground.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed out into the night in pain as he lost the last remaining member of Team 7 and the woman he had always loved and had never given up hope for.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata weakly called out to the sobbing blond. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun."

"Hinata-chan," Naruto called her name in sorrow. "What did I ever do to deserve this? What's the point of continuing? Everyone I ever cared for is dying around me and I can only watch from the sideline."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she choked on her own emotions. She enveloped him in a hug and pressed her body against his back. "Sakura-chan would want you to live. Naruto you can't give up now. Don't let the sacrifice that everyone has made go to waste. Naruto we need you, I need you."

"Hinata!" Naruto whispered her name and swallowed hard as he placed an arm on top of Hinata's as she was holding him from behind. "I was told to be the Chosen One. I was told that I would hold the fate of the world in my hands. The prophecy said that I would either throw the world into chaos and destruction or usher in a world of peace. I thought I was doing everything towards bringing peace into the world, so why is this happening?"

"Perhaps Konoha needs to join the tides of history," Hinata tried everything she could think off. "Maybe there needs to be so much death and destruction that the survivors think differently of the power we can harness through the use of chakra. It is possible to assume that we all need to suffer pain in order to appreciate peace."

"No," Naruto shook his head in anger. "That is wrong. Pein said the same thing. In order to appreciate peace, the world would need to understand pain first. I told him he was wrong and I told him that I would put an end to the endless cycle of hatred. I must have done something wrong. It's my fault this is happening."

"Naruto-kun don't blame yourself," Hinata said in sorrow as she tightened her hold on him as she feared he was slipping away. "You're not alone yet. I'm still here with you and I promise that I will never leave your side. I love you Naruto, I always have, and always will. I never stopped loving you even after you rejected my confession during your fight with Pein."

"I never rejected you," Naruto mumbled to himself, as he looked at Sakura's deceased body. He reached out to her and cupped the pinkette's cheek gently.

Naruto pulled himself out of Hinata's embrace and bent forward to place a kiss on Sakura's lips.

"I'll see you on the other side Sakura-chan. It's a promise of a lifetime."

A lone tear ran down Hinata's face as she watched Naruto submerge himself in grief and self-doubt. Watching him was breaking her heart and she began to quietly turn away but was stopped when her hand was suddenly grabbed forcefully. She was spun around and before she knew it, her lips were caught by Naruto's mouth.

Hinata's eyes widened shortly in shock but quickly warmed. Her eyelids closed as she returned Naruto's kiss and she slung her arms around his neck as she leaned further into the kiss to deepen it. Naruto broke the kiss and looked into Hinata's eyes,

"I'm sorry Hinata, I never meant for you to think that I rejected you. I should have told you right after Pein's invasion how I was feeling about you. I should have cleared everything up between you and Sakura-chan. Can you forgive me?"

"Hai," Hinata replied happily but frowned. "Naruto I still don't understand. Why now?"

"I don't think we are going to survive this Hinata," Naruto replied and smiled weakly. "Before we die I at least wanted to let you know I at least wanted you to know that I do have feelings for you….strong feelings. I… I think if circumstances were different, I could love you as much as I've loved Sakura-chan."

"Naruto," Hinata started but was stopped from continuing as he placed a finger on her lips to silence her.

"Hinata I don't know where this will lead us or what will happen," Naruto started saying and sighed as he briefly looked out over the burning village and forest. "I promise you that if we both survive the night… let's start anew."

"Hai! I'd like that," Hinata responded and turned towards Sakura. "We should give her a proper burial."

"Yes," Naruto said and swallowed in sorrow.

"I'll do it," Hinata said and knelt down besides Sakura's prone body. Hinata flashed through several hand signs and Sakura's body slowly vanished into the rock formation. Hinata finally stopped channeling chakra into the ground once Sakura's body was several feet under the ground. She slowly stood and looked at the spot Sakura's corpse had occupied and was satisfied that the ground looked as undisturbed as the ground surrounding it. "There, they will never find her."

"Thank you Hinata-chan," Naruto inhaled sharply as his eyes began to sting again.

It was at this moment that Might Gai arrived in a blur and collapsed to the ground. Naruto and Hinata were by his side immediately and offered him a drink of water from a canteen Hinata had on herself.

"Thank you," Gai coughed. "So this is all that is left of us?"

"Yes," Naruto said softly. "Everyone is dead. The only one we don't know about is Tsunade-baa-chan."

"Hokage-sama died as she took out that old coot of a Tsuchikage." Gai explained in sorrow. "I tried to get to her but there were simply too many enemies between me and her body."

Gai slammed his fist into the ground in frustration. "I should have done more," he muttered as tears fell freely from his eyes.

He looked up when he suddenly felt Naruto's hand on his shoulder. The blond looked at the Jounin sensei in determination. "None of the sacrifices our friends made today are in vain. Let's finish what Iwa and Kumo started. Let's do this for Kakashi, for Lee-san, and everyone else we've lost."

"Yes," Gai hummed with renewed energy and stood. He walked towards the edge of the Hokage monument and peered down. "It's time to teach them to fear Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey."

"What are you thinking?" Naruto asked as he stepped up to Gai.

He turned towards Naruto and offered his nice guy pose. "I am a force of nature. I am the wind that spurns on a hurricane. I am Konoha's Green Beast and it is time that the Daytime Tiger will go on the prowl one last time. Farewell my comrades."

"Gai you can't," Naruto shouted and reached for the Jounin only to grab empty air. "Damn that fool."

"Naruto-kun look," Hinata said and pointed down towards the roof of the burning Hokage tower. "It's Gai-sensei."

"**Hachimon Tonkō no Jin,"** they heard Gai's voice shout out and a massive pillar of energy shot skyward as the ground trembled underneath Naruto's and Hinata's feet.

Naruto and Hinata watched in awe as Gai accelerated away from the Hokage tower and watched the mighty tower crumble from the sudden force of Gai's acceleration. Naruto whistled softly, "He really is a force of nature when he releases all eight gates."

"**Hirudora!"** Naruto and Hinata heard Gai's voice once more and they saw a massive chakra blast originate from somewhere far away. They saw the wave take on the form of a tiger and Naruto and Hinata couldn't help themselves and watched the destruction ensue.

Minutes later, an eerie silence befell the battlefield that once was the proud village of Konohagakure. As Naruto and Hinata watched the dust settle, they were able to see that the majority of the fires had been extinguished by Gai's massive Daytime Tiger attack.

Naruto scoffed, "Karma sure is being ironic."

"What are you talking about Naruto-kun?"

"Look," Naruto said and pointed to the east. "The sun is rising. A new day is beginning and Gai announced it with his jutsu that ironically is called Daytime Tiger."

"I see," Hinata said and she attentively took one of Naruto's hands into her own and said.

"It's time Naruto-kun. It's time we finish this and make them pay."

"Yeah," Naruto said and looked to his side at Hinata and was surprised to see her watching him. And as he looked into her beautiful lavender colored eyes, Naruto could see himself learning to love the indigo-haired girl next to him.

Hinata wilted under Naruto's stare and stuttered, "W-what is it Naruto-kun?"

'_No!'_ Naruto thought as he mentally shook his head. '_I can't tell her. If I'd do, she would think she was the consolation prize to Sakura-chan. I won't hurt Hinata-chan like that, she deserves better than the likes of me.'_

"It's nothing," Naruto said before flashing a sad smile at her. "Let's go," he continued and squeezed Hinata's hand.

"Let's," Hinata replied with a smile on her delicate face that was covered in soot, dirt, and blood.

"**Demon Arts: Zeitgeist!"**

Naruto and Hinata suddenly blinked in confusion as they both heard a dark malevolent voice. "What's going on Naruto-kun? Who was that?"

Naruto's eyes widened in panic and he tried to retreat to his mindscape but was unable to do so. "I…"

He couldn't continue as an immense pain suddenly plagued his body. He fell to the ground and writhed in pain as his eyes began to flash red and his body began to leak red chakra. He roared in pain and clutched his head as it threatened to explode from the pressure he suddenly felt in his head.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata screamed in shocked panic and dropped to her knees. She reached for him but her hands were slapped away by Naruto as he shouted.

"No! Don't touch me."

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated his name in concern. She continued to watch him writhe in pain and her heart could no longer take it anymore and she flung her entire body on top of his. She wrapped her arms around him and her own mouth tore wide open as she screamed in pain herself as the Kyuubi's chakra began to eat away on her body.

"**Execute!"**

"Noooooooo!" Naruto roared as he heard the Kyuubi's evil voice order a command and Naruto's world suddenly turned pitch black as he and Hinata vanished in a flash of red from the Hokage Mountain.

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**A/N:** Well that was the Prologue... so who likes it and who hates it? As mentioned above, this story is going to be a pure Naruto/Hinata pairing. I hope you all liked the idea on how I dealt with the issue of having Sakura around. I didn't want to do the usual "Sakura betrays Naruto and runs into Hinata's arms for comfort" story. In my opinion that story cow had been milked dry eons ago and sadly the majority of those stories are utter crap. The majority of the times Hinata turns into a typical Mary Sue or becomes Superwoman and loses the actual appeal and gentle nature that Hinata is portrayed as in the Manga and makes her a likeable character. (Let's hope I don't fall into that same plot hole.)

Hinata is a soft, shy, gentle, and caring person. I also believe that she is capable of great forgiveness, similar to Naruto. But it's also these exact same qualities that make her so great, which also make it so difficult to write a believable Naruto/Hinata story. I think that is why I never really was able to write a true Naru/Hina story but I will do my best about this one. All of this is of course my opinion.

And I will update this whenever I feel like it. Leave your wonderful reviews and let me know what you liked and didn't like.

Chapter 1 could come online quite soon - no promises!

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**Zeitgeist** - Ghost of Time


	2. Zeitverschiebung

**Passage of Time**

Zeitverschiebung

Chapter 1

The thunderous roar of the Kyuubi no Youko was heard all over Konohagakure and the civilian populace was huddled within the safety rooms of the Hokage Mountain. Guard duty befell on those that were heralded from shinobi clans such as the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, while every able body that was the rank of Chuunin or higher was out defending the village and supporting their Hokage in his fight against the massive Demon Fox.

And among those panicked villagers that were huddled into the safety of the mountain, was the Hyuuga matriarch. The normally calm and in control woman was sweating profoundly and bore a panicked expression that was borderline terrified. She was breathing erratically as she clutched her rapidly growing belly that had suddenly started growing not more than five minutes ago. The proud woman let out a banshee shriek of pain and suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness as one of Konoha's medic squads were fussing about her.

"Out of my way," the stoic calm voice of Hyuuga Hiashi bellowed through the panicked crowd that had surrounded the room his pregnant wife had been roomed in. "What is going on here? Why was I summoned away from the battlefield?"

"Hyuuga-sama it is your wife," another Hyuuga stepped forward and bowed. "She was fine not too long ago but suddenly started complaining about abdominal pain. We fetched a medic just to be safe and that's when it suddenly happened…"

"What happened?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked angrily. He couldn't show his concern for his beloved in front of Konoha's village and crossed his arms defiantly as he waited for an explanation.

"Sir," the Hyuuga stuttered and threw himself to the ground which caused Hiashi to raise an eyebrow in question. "I apologize if this sounds unbelievable but it's the truth. I swear it upon my life."

"Well get to it," Hiashi growled. "I have to return to the frontlines. I don't have all day."

"Sir, your wife, she… She fell unconscious just as you arrived but not after her stomach had suddenly started growing and almost doubling in size," the Hyuuga who was practically kissing the ground replied, before shuffling out of Hiashi's way without ever getting up from his kneeling position.

"Impossible," Hiashi growled as he sneered at the man. "What is this, some kind of fairy tale?" He grunted as he pushed passed the mob of people and entered the room his wife was in only to halt at the entrance of the door.

"W-what is this?" Hiashi breathed in shock as his eyes befell on his unconscious wife and her grown belly. Forgotten was his ever calculated façade of superiority and he rushed to his wife's side, back handing away the mid-wife that had been ordered to keep watch over his wife.

"Out of the way!" A loud voice shouted that was distinctively female yet when Hiashi's head snapped towards the door; he could only see a man standing there wearing scrubs.

"Everyone out of the room… Now!" The man that was clearly a doctor shouted and his head turned towards the one man that refused to move. "Hyuuga-sama I need you to leave as well."

"I will not," Hiashi replied in a voice of tone that left no room for arguments. "Why don't you tell me what has happened to my wife?"

"Well sir," the doctor started saying only to briefly pause. "Your wife is going into labor."

"Preposterous," Hiashi shouted. "She isn't due for another," he actually paused as his eyes turned upwards in thought. "Three months. She isn't due for another three months!"

"I know that, you know that, clearly she knows it too," the doctor said as he was pointing at the overly inflated belly. "However, your daughter seems to want to come out now!"

"How is this even possible?"

The doctor shrugged as his hands began to glow green, "I do not know Sir but it all suddenly started happening when we heard that massive explosion and the Kyuubi's defiant roar. Your wife collapsed and we watched in awe how the fetus that is your daughter suddenly began to rapidly grow and underwent the last trimester of growth within less than five minutes."

"Impossible," Hiashi muttered as he looked with concern at his wife as he once again forgot to hide his feelings.

"Everything is possible," the doctor replied and placed a glowing hand on the overextended skin of Hiashi's wife's belly. "At least that is what Tsunade-sama had always drilled into us. Now this is going to get messy. I think it's best you'll leave Hyuuga-sama."

"I will not," Hiashi replied and watched in half fascination and morbid fear as the doctor began a caesarian operation on his wife.

Meanwhile far away from the Hokage Mountain and the freakish case of an instant trimester growth in a clearing outside Konohagakure, were two people. The secret love for each other had formed one of the strongest bonds that could be formed between a husband and wife as they held their newborn son in their arms.

"He's so adorable Minato-kun," the red headed woman spoke in a whisper with tears in her eyes.

"He is Kushina-chan," the blond Hokage Namikaze Minato responded with his own tear filled smile.

"He looks just like you," Kushina said weakly as tears began to fall from her eyes and onto the baby's face stirring it awake.

A pair of ocean blue eyes slowly opened and looked up into the smiling yet sorrow filled faces of his parents. Two small pudgy hands reached up in an attempt to grab his parent's faces.

"Oh Naruto-kun," Kushina wept as she pressed her baby next to her face and rubbed cheeks with him.

The baby Naruto let out a holler of squeals of delight as he was embraced by his mother and chewed on her long red hair.

A small giggle escaped Kushina but was quickly turned to a small frown as a menacing low growl entered their ears from behind them. A fury and anger that only could come from a mother that was trying to protect her child, Kushina suddenly unleashed a torrent of energies from her body as even more chakra chains shot forth from her body. She slowly turned to face the mighty demon that was chained to the ground, anger visible in her eyes as she stared at the demon fox.

"I know you hate me," Kushina said as she slowly approached the chained fox. "But don't think for a minute than you can best me. I am an Uzumaki, I may not be able to control you but I own you. Don't even think you can best me, not when there is my son's life at stake."

The demon snarled and tried to snap at Kushina but was refrained from doing so when another chakra chain wrapped itself around its massive snout. A victorious smirk split Kushina's lips apart and she tightly held her son as the young baby looked awe struck at the Kyuubi no Youko. Several delighted squeals only drew Kushina's and Minato's attention but that of the demon as well as the baby Naruto struggled within Kushina's arms in an attempt to reach the demon.

"No Naruto-kun you can't," Kushina said weakly and pulled him closer to her heart in an attempt to calm him. She looked down into Naruto's face that was beginning to tear up and she studied the faint whisker marks on his cheeks. A sad smile awoke on her face and she sighed as she looked back at the demon in front of her. "You already marked him as an outcast for the rest of his life, aren't you happy with that?"

The demon suddenly let out multiple dark bellows and Kushina's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't you dare be amused Kyuubi," she growled in anger. "I will draw you back into my seal and you're going to die with me together. I will have the last laugh," she spat.

"Kushina-chan," Minato spoke gently to her. "You know as well as I do that you've already taxed yourself and have not much chakra left. If you do this, you're going to die."

"I am going to die regardless," Kushina snapped but her visage softened immediately as baby Naruto began to cry. "I am sorry Minato-kun but this is the only feasible way to stop the Kyuubi."

"It is not," Minato said filled with sorrow. "There is another way."

"No!" Kushina shouted realizing what her lover and husband had meant. "The Hakke no Fūin Shiki is going to kill you Minato-kun. Y-you can't mean to want to seal the demon within Naruto-kun?"

"It's the only option that is left to us," Minato said and saw Kushina's determined shake of the head. "Kushina-chan you have to believe me. You're too weak to perform the re-sealing of the Kyuubi. If you die, the Kyuubi will be free for good and I can't do this without your help."

"No," Kushina muttered through tears as she was transfixed upon Naruto. "If you do this, Naruto-kun will grow up without a father."

"I know," Minato said sadly. "But I'd much rather see him grow up with his mother than with me. Besides, I am the Hokage. It is my duty to sacrifice myself for the village."

"Baka," Kushina muttered and looked into Minato's love filled eyes. "You're just being unreasonable."

"That is one of the perks of being Hokage," Minato said with a sad smile. "I get to choose when to be a stubborn idiot. You have to live for the two of us and make sure that Naruto grows strong and honorable."

Minato could watch the internal struggle within Kushina's eyes and even though she had yet to respond, he already knew her answer. He softly placed a kiss on her forehead and slowly took the crying Naruto out of her arms. He knelt and placed Naruto in front of him and smiled at his son, "Make me proud Naruto. Become the strongest ninja and protect those precious to you at all costs. Never go back on your word that is your mother's and mine nindo. I'll pass it on to you now."

"Minato-kun," Kushina wept and knelt beside her husband.

"Everything is going to be fine Kushina-chan," Minato said and flashed through hand signs as he summoned forth his chakra. He ended on the last set of seals and muttered the jutsu's name as he called upon the powers of the Death God. "I love you Kushina-chan, never forget that."

"I won't," Kushina wept as she watched Minato quickly create a seal on Naruto's baby stomach that would contain the Kyuubi and turn her son into the next Jinchuuriki.

Her eyes widened in surprise and terrified fear as a new howl escaped the demon fox and she watched on in horror as parts of her chakra chains were shattered by the demonic energies. In those next seconds, time slowed for Kushina as she helplessly watched the Kyuubi no Youko raise its massive clawed paw in an attempt to swipe at them.

"No!" Kushina screamed and threw her body in the way and was flung against Minato while at the same time she felt her body pierced through by one of the demon's razor-sharp claws.

"Kushina-chan," Minato gurgled in pain as he spat up blood. His wife's body was pinned against his and his hands shook from sudden exhaustion as his life force quickly left him.

"Minato-kun what are you doing?" Kushina muttered weakly as her eyes became heavy with sleep.

"The only thing I still can do," Minato coughed through the blood as he quickly added changes to Naruto's Eight Trigram Divination Seal. I am going to seal parts of our chakra within Naruto as well. That way we can help him when the time comes."

"W-what do you mean?"

"If the seal were ever to fail, I can restore it once," Minato quickly explained as he concentrated on the sealing design. "And when the time comes that Naruto is going to confront the bastard fox in order to subdue it, you will appear to him and help him out. Besides, don't you want to watch him grow up and find his own love?"

"Yes," Kushina replied weakly as more tears fell from her eyes. "Naruto-kun, my Naruto-kun, be strong my son and never give up your dreams. We will always be watching you," she said as her voice became a whisper as her eyes began to close.

"Kushina-chan fight it," Minato urged her on. "I am not yet finished and need you. Kushina, Naruto needs you. Please stay with me."

"I am here Minato-kun," Kushina whispered weakly.

"Kushina!" Minato wanted to scream her name as he felt his wife lean heavier onto him and he knew that he had to hurry with the sealing as he was running out of time faster than he had believed.

And within seconds, Minato closed his eyes, "Kushina are you still with me?"

"Yes," a very soft reply came from behind him and his heart was feeling less heavy."

"I am almost done," Minato said and flashed through one handed hand signs. He once again poured all his concentration and chakra into his hands and when his eyes opened again they briefly flashed a violent blue of power. He then placed his hand on top of Naruto's stomach seal and muttered the final string of sealing words.

His hand grew cold as he felt his chakra seep into Naruto's seal and he watched in astonishment how a thin string of chakra was sucked out of Kushina. The Kyuubi's mighty roar tore his vision away from his son and onto the demon that towered above them and watched the Kyuubi suddenly dissolves into chakra. And in a display of a torrent of energies, the red chakra cloud that once was the Kyuubi no Youko was sucked into Naruto's seal as well.

A silence befell the clearing they were in as the Kyuubi no Youko was no more and Minato breathed out a sigh of relief and slowly closed his eyes as he pulled Kushina and Naruto into his arms as he was still kneeling.

A wail from Naruto suddenly forced his eyes wide open again and he almost shouted and tossed his baby son away when he saw Naruto suddenly enveloped in a cloud of red chakra. Minato hissed in pain as the poisonous chakra ate away at his skin.

"W-what's wrong with Naruto-kun?" Kushina's weak and worried voice drifted into Minato's ear as he saw his wife return to consciousness.

"I-I don't know," Minato rasped and coughed up a spot of blood. "S-something about the Kyuubi…"

The baby Naruto screamed in pain and anger as the Kyuubi's chakra cloaked enveloped the boy. Naruto began to shimmer red and a gasp of surprise escaped Minato's and Kushina's lips as they saw their baby son slowly dissolve within the chakra cloud.

"No!" Minato hushed in disbelief as Kushina hysterically cried Naruto's name.

However, the two were in for a shock when suddenly their baby Naruto was replaced by a teenaged blond that was completely naked with no discernable markings on his body, except the faint whisker outlines and the Hakke no Fūin Shiki glowing powerfully on his stomach.

The young adult groggily groaned and his eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Where the hell am I?" The young Blond muttered to himself. He slowly began to realize he was no longer on top of the Hokage Mountain as he missed the black blooms of smoke that had reached into the sky. He slowly turned his head as he tried to take in his surroundings and he froze when his eyes fell upon Minato and Kushina.

"What the hell," Naruto said and kept staring at his parents, who returned the favor by blinking rapidly in shocked silence.

"Mom? Dad?" Naruto carefully asked. "Is this the afterlife? Did I die while defending the people of Konohagakure?"

"What?" Minato finally asked after having found his voice again. "Who are you?"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Kushina breathed a whisper as her eyes were transfixed on Naruto's face. "Is that really you?"

"Yes," Naruto carefully drew out the word in confusion as he frowned. "This isn't heaven?"

"No," Minato replied shaking his head and he suddenly clinched in pain as he clutched his heart. "Time's running out," he hissed as Kushina had fussed over him with renewed strength.

"What's going on here? Where am I?" Naruto asked as he saw his father grab his heart in pain. "Dad what's wrong with you?"

"If you are really my son," Minato started and hissed as another wave of pain ran through him. He could feel the cold grip of the Shinigami upon him. "What do you last remember before waking up here?"

Naruto blinked with his eyes and frowned, "I was standing on top of the Hokage Mountain with Hinata-chan and we were about to kill all those Iwa and Kumo shinobi that survived Gai-sensei's Daytime Tiger when suddenly…"

Naruto drawled into nothingness as his eyes suddenly widened in shock. He jumped to his feet and frantically looked around before finally turning to his parents who looked surprised while blushing.

"Where is Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked in a panic and frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Um, here," Minato said and painfully shrugged off his Hokage cape and handed it to Naruto. "Put this on."

"Huh?" Naruto mouthed and looked at himself before yelping and snatching the cape from his father's hands and hiding his modesty behind it. "Why the hell am I naked?"

"So you weren't naked before?" Kushina asked with a hint of amusement.

Naruto vehemently shook his head and was about to answer when Minato interrupted him. "Naruto concentrate. Why were you and this Hinata going to attack Iwa and Kumo survivors? Konoha isn't at war right now and…"

Naruto frowned, "What do you mean we aren't at war. We just finished the Fourth Great Shinobi World War several months ago, which immediately led into Iwa and Kumo attacking us. Dad, Konoha is destroyed. It's lying in ruins, burned to the ground by those bastards that called themselves our Allies during the war."

"What are you talking about Naruto-kun," Kushina asked in confusion yet curiosity. "Konoha isn't destroyed at all. Yes, Konoha suffered but it's far from being destroyed. You have your father to thank for that."

"W-what?" Naruto asked and scratched his head and he actually took his time to look around and sure enough in the far distance he saw the massive walls of Konoha and the Mountain with only four Hokage faces upon it.

"Hey what happened to Tsunade-baachan's stone face? How come it's not up there?"

Minato frowned as he studied Naruto. A fit of violent coughs overcame him and Naruto was by his side immediately, "Dad what's wrong? You shouldn't be sick when we are talking in one of my dreams."

"This isn't a dream," Minato hissed again. He was clutching his heart again and weakly turned to Kushina. "I am sorry Kushina-chan but I am out of time. The Shinigami is tired of waiting. I am surprised I've been alive this long already. I love you and will miss you."

"I love you too Minato-kun," Kushina said as she pressed more tears from her eyes. She quickly embraced him and they shared one final kiss.

Naruto looked away out of embarrassment, although he had to agree that this was feeling too surreal to be a dream. He dug his toes into the earth and was surprised at the feeling he was receiving. _"Odd,"_ he thought as he inhaled and could smell the forest that permeates the woods around him. _"This is too real to be a dream. Could this be inside my mind then? But where is the Kyuubi?"_

"Good bye my love," Kushina sobbed and Naruto suddenly saw how his father's body deflated and his eyes lost the light of life. A knot had suddenly formed within Naruto's throat as he watched his father die in front of him and he felt a wave of anger flood him.

"Kyuubi what the hell are you scheming?" Naruto shouted into the clearing in rage. "Show yourself you bastard fox so I can whoop your ass again. Stop this charade right now!" He commanded and glowered in anger.

"T-the Kyuubi?" Kushina's weak sorrow filled voice pulled Naruto back to his parents.

"Mom!" Naruto screamed as he watched Kushina suddenly collapse on top of his father. "Mom what's wrong?"

Kushina smiled weakly at her son and reached for his cheek, "I am glad that I was able to see you Naruto-kun. You were the greatest that has ever happened to me besides meeting Minato-kun. Thank you for letting a mother know that you're as handsome as your father when you've grown up. I am sorry that we were forced to push the burden of keeping the Kyuubi contained on you. Can you forgive your parent for being so cruel to their own flesh and blood?"

"Mom," Naruto said meekly in irritation. "I already told you before that I don't hate you or dad for what you had to do. I love you Mom, always have and always will."

"Thank you Naruto-kun," Kushina said and she closed her eyes. "I will go to your father now Naruto-kun. Be strong and remember, we'll always be watching."

"Mom!" Naruto muttered as again a feeling of utter regret and sorrow overwhelmed him as he watched his mother slowly enter the eternal sleep.

"_Damn it why does this feel so real?" _Naruto thought depressed as he wiped away tears from his eyes and sniffled. He waited for the Kyuubi to finish the torment of subjugating him to this nightmare but when nothing happened, Naruto could only shake his head and cursed the demon fox.

Naruto then carefully proceeded to arrange his parent's corpse so that they were lying next to each other. He made sure that his parent's hands were enclosed with each other to represent the deep love they shared and silently stood next to them with his head hung low.

He had slipped into his father's Kage cape and was muttering a silent prayer. It felt like the right thing to do for him and as his eyes were closed shedding tears, he failed to realize the arrival of several people.

Several gasps behind Naruto drew him out of his mourning and he slowly looked over his shoulder only for his eyes to grow wide.

"Who are you?" The aged man asked as his eyes were narrowed to slits.

Naruto could tell that the man dressed in full out battle armor and armed with a large war staff was eyeing him warily, while at the same time studying him and Naruto's dead parents. When Naruto didn't reply from still being shocked, the old man asked again.

"Who are you and what have you done to Minato's and Kushina's son?"

"H-how come you're alive?" Naruto asked over his shoulder and his eyes flashed red in anger. "How dare you pretend to be the old man?"

"What are you talking about?" the aging man asked and took a fighting stance. The multiple ANBU surrounding them were also readying themselves. "I am the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen!"

"Liar!" Naruto growled and fully turned to face the old man that disguised himself as the Third. "Jiji died fighting Orochimaru-teme. He protected Konoha from that vile snake. Do not mock his sacrifice!"

Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly before narrowing again, "I don't know who you are but I am going to find it out."

"Bring it!" Naruto growled but before he could move, he was surprised by a giant shadow that was dropping down on him.

"Zessenbaku!" A voice announced and Naruto suddenly found himself trapped and encased in a giant tongue.

Naruto's eyes widened further as he saw Jiraiya appear next to Sarutobi. Jiraiya was currently in sage mode and had the Elder toads Shima and Fukasaku perched on his shoulders. He knew he should feel anger at seeing Jiraiya as well as Sarutobi in the world of the living but somehow, seeing Jiraiya again drained him of all of his anger and he dropped to his knees as he was tied up by Shima's massively transformed tongue.

"Why?" Naruto sobbed through tears as he looked at his godfather and the man that was like a grandfather to him. "Why is this happening to me? One minute I am standing on top of the Hokage Mountain, ready to destroy Iwa's and Kumo's invading armies or die trying. And the next I find myself here outside Konoha with my parents and for some reason I am utterly naked."

Sarutobi and Jiraiya listened carefully and their expressions reached one of bewilderment and interest.

"Sensei what is going on here?" Jiraiya quietly asked his teacher as he looked at the blond young man Shima had tied up. "Where is Naruto? Minato-kun said that I was to take care of him as his godfather."

"I don't know where young Naruto is," Sarutobi answered softly while never taking his eyes from the blond in front of them.

Naruto's eyes widened as he overheard Jiraiya and Sarutobi and he suddenly had images of his childhood flash in front of his eyes. Images where he was alone, crying because he once again had been chased and ignored by the villagers. Images of him going hungry to bed and sleeping under the open night sky because he had been kicked out of the orphanage and all those horrible images reawakened the kindle of rage after realizing that Jiraiya had said he was to take care of him.

"You bastard," Naruto growled and forced his legs up in anger. His eyes zeroed in on Jiraiya and they were filled with rage and flashed the deadly red of the Kyuubi. "You never took care of me Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya blinked in confusion and looked at his mentor. "What is he going on about? Is that a bloodline limit?"

"I don't know," Sarutobi muttered as he carefully watched Naruto's red eyes. They looked so familiar to him but he was unable to place them in his memories. He warily took his staff in his guard position, "Careful men! He's about to…"

Sarutobi didn't get further as Naruto forced Shima's tongue to explode outward and rushed towards Jiraiya screaming in a pained rage as his fist was cocked back and ready to unleash his grief and anger. However, right before he reached Jiraiya, Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and he looked down as he came to an abrupt stop and saw a mob of silver hair below him in a crouch.

"Kakashi," Naruto muttered and collapsed upon his teacher, never realizing that Kakashi looked years younger.

"Well done Kakashi-san," Sarutobi approved and walked towards the unconscious Naruto. "This man clearly knows some of us but I have never seen him before in my life. Get him to interrogation and make sure you place chakra inhibitors upon him and his cell. I don't even want him to have an inkling of chakra when I come to interrogate him."

Jiraiya whistled as two ANBU took the unconscious Naruto away. "You're doing the interrogation personally Sarutobi-sensei? You haven't done that in a long time."

"I know," the Third spoke wearily. "But this man must know what happened to Minato's and Kushina's son. We have to find him Jiraiya!"

"I agree," Jiraiya replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "What are we going to do about them?"

Sarutobi's eyes fell upon the sleeping corpses of the Yondaime Hokage and his secret wife. A sad sigh escaped his lips and he looked at his ANBU. "Inform the village council that the Yondaime Hokage and the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko, Uzumaki Kushina have died in battle against the demon fox and let them know that I, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen will take over the mantle of Hokage again."

"Yes Sir," one of the ANBU replied and saluted before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"You're not going to acknowledge Minato's and Kushina's marriage?" Jiraiya asked appalled.

"I am sorry Jiraiya but I can't do that," Sarutobi replied depressed. "We don't know what happened to Naruto and if the enemies catch wind of the fact that Minato had a son, they will come looking for him. For now it's safest to keep the marriage as well as the birth a secret. At least as long as we don't know what happened to young Naruto-kun."

"I don't like this Sensei," Jiraiya mumbled as he looked at his favorite student along with his wife as they were placed onto a stretcher for the transport back to Konoha.

"Neither do I Jiraiya," Sarutobi answered and turned to his student with grief struck eyes. "Let's go back to Konoha. There is nothing we can do here anymore."

"Right," Jiraiya mumbled and picked at his moist eyes. "I'll oversee the recovery of the wounded," he quickly said and was ready to shunshin away.

"Jiraiya are you still in contact with Tsunade-hime?" Sarutobi asked as with yet another expression of pain flashing across his student's face.

"Not really," Jiraiya replied dejectedly. "But I think one of my toads could fairly easily find her."

"Please do that," Sarutobi answered. "I fear we will require her medical expertise with the many wounded.

"I don't know if she will be of much help Sensei," Jiraiya said and looked into the far distance as if he was remembering something. "Her Haemophobia will prevent her from being of much help."

"You are mistaken," Sarutobi replied and briefly turned inwards. "Tsunade-hime may not be able to help in operating patients but her presence alone will bolster our medical teams' confidence."

"Very well," Jiraiya spoke. "I will send out a toad immediately and then oversee the recovery teams."

"Thank you Jiraiya," the third Hokage said and shunshined away.

Jiraiya sighed and looked at the two toads that were sitting on his shoulders and who had remained uncharacteristically quiet. "Thank you for your help Ma and Pa. Could you send out a toad and let him know to go find Tsunade-chan? Last I heard, she was near the borders of Kusa and Amegakure."

Both toads nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke and Jiraiya left his sage mode transformation. He sighed and brushed one of his hands through his hair as he looked up into the blue sky. "Minato-kun, Kushina-chan what happened here? Where is your son and how did the Kyuubi get free from the seal? I thought we had every precaution in place."

As Jiraiya received no answer, he chuckled sadly and shook his head. "Of course you're not answering," he muttered and turned towards Konoha only to vanish in a rustle of leaves.

**XXXXXX**

"Careful," the doctor spoke in hectic to one of the nurses that was assisting him. "Is everyone ready? Good, I am going to open up the womb now."

The doctor very gently and slowly began to do the final incision within Hyuuga Hiashi's wife's womb. Sweat was gathering on his forehead and he immediately called for a wipe. He loudly pulled in a breath and gently pulled the fine incision he had made in the womb apart. Fluids rushed out and he quickly pushed his hands into the womb and through sense of touch pulled out the baby.

"It's a girl," he breathed as he had the tiny bundle in his hands. He held the baby high above his head and inspected it carefully. A frown crossed his face and he hummed in confusion, "This is certainly more than weird now."

"What is it?" Hyuuga Hiashi instantly demanded. "Is my daughter healthy? If she is damaged, I don't want her. Kill her now and put her out of her misery. It'll be easier for all of us then."

Wide eyed, the doctor looked from the baby girl to Hiashi and quickly shook his head. "No Sir, your daughter is very healthy. The surprising part is that she is a fully developed baby. This isn't possible; she should still be a fetus at this time. She was born at least three months too early."

"So she is something special?" Hiashi asked and a predatory smile appeared on his face that resembled a snake. _"Excellent!"_ Hiashi thought evilly. _"Having a special daughter will help me gain more influence over these idiotic civilians and their obsession in Kekkei Genkai. I'll just have to spin this special birth to my advantage properly and I can't lose. Finally the Hyuuga will replace those forsaken Uchiha."_

"Doctor," one of the nurses spoke that was holding a blanket in her arms. "Here is the blanket for the baby."

"Thank you Nurse," the man replied in his feminine voice and gently placed the baby girl into the blanket. "I will have to run a few more tests on your daughter Hyuuga-sama," the doctor said and put the baby onto the adjacent bed. "But first I have to close up your wife and make sure she is fine."

"You do that," Hiashi answered as he looked from his wife to their daughter and thought. _"Perhaps this isn't just a fluke of nature. Perhaps my wife is useful for more than just the weekly entertainment. Perhaps if I father more children with her, the pregnancy won't last the full nine months either… very interesting..."_

The baby Hyuuga girl suddenly started screaming in pain and pulled everyone's attention. The doctor, along with the assisting nurse, and Hyuuga Hiashi rushed over to the bed the baby was lying on and their eyes widened in shocked fear as they saw the baby enshrouded in a red mist that could only be described as a red chakra cloak.

"Impossible," the doctor said as he narrowed his eyes.

"W-what is going on here?" Hiashi bellowed in anger at seeing his very precious daughter for which he had been making plans for, already screaming in some very real pain. "What is this red thing she is surrounded by? Why is it hurting her? Could this be a mutation? Is it a new bloodline perhaps?"

"No," the doctor replied as he was still shocked from the unexpected development. "This shouldn't be happening…"

"Well of course not," Hiashi shot snidely. "An entire Trimester shouldn't happen in a few minutes either. However, that is and was the case here with my wife and now this? Whatever it is, what if it were possible?"

"Then the only explanation I could give is quite simple," the doctor replied as he looked at Hiashi with regret in his eyes. "I am sorry Hyuuga-sama but it seems your daughter is dying."

"What?" Hiashi roared and slammed the doctor against the wall. He pressed his elbow into the doctor's windpipe and had his Byakugan activated. "Explain yourself. Why is my healthy daughter all of a sudden dying?"

"It's the red chakra cloak," the doctor replied. "I've seen it before."

"Who?" Hiashi bellowed in barely controlled anger as he felt his opportunities to advance his and his clan's standing already falling apart before he could even think of all the countless favorable scenarios.

"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," the doctor uttered as he struggled for air. "I've seen the Uzumaki woman having such a chakra mist surround her and she later explained that it was a power from the Kyuubi no Youko… but why does your daughter have this happening to her? Your wife was never near the Kyuubi correct?"

"Of course not," Hiashi growled and let go of the doctor. "My wife does as I command her- nothing more and nothing less."

"Oh my god," the nurse suddenly yelled and ran for the door in panic.

Without thinking, Hiashi lashed out and hit the tenketsu point that would stop circulation to the legs. He watched the nurse crash into the wall next to the door as she lost control of her movements and the sickening crunch that followed made the doctor wince.

"What are you doing?" The doctor screamed in semi-half rage. "You can't just kill people as you like. Every able body is needed for the wounded right now. We can't spare any losses."

"Deal with it," Hiashi spat and glared a challenge at the doctor, who quickly looked away from the Hyuuga patriarch's stare. "Now why did that stupid woman react like this?"

Hiashi and the doctor both looked towards the bed the baby lay on and their eyes almost fell out of their eye sockets as suddenly a fully naked young woman lay unconscious on top of the bed. The baby with its red chakra cloak was gone and in its place now laid the unknown woman.

"Where is my daughter?" Hiashi growled as he looked at the young woman. "And who the hell is that?"

"I-I don't know," the doctor said in confusion. "I've never seen her before."

"Is she a spy?" Hiashi asked but quickly shook his own head. "No that can't be possible… A spy wouldn't be unconscious let alone be naked."

"I don't know," the doctor replied and carefully edged closer to the mysterious woman. He took one of the arms into his hands and checked the pulse. "She is at least healthy," the doctor muttered and his eyes took in her features.

"Hyuuga-sama she almost looks like a spitting image of your wife," the doctor finally said after checking the vital signs of both the newcomer and Hiashi's wife.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Hiashi growled and stepped closer. He studied the young woman intently and looked back and forth between his wife and this new woman. _"Damn she really does look like my wife,"_ Hiashi thought and had agreed to call himself surprised.

A soft delicate groan escaped the woman's lips that pulled Hiashi out of his thoughts. He watched intently as the eyes of the woman slowly fluttered open and his breath was caught in his throat as a pair of white eyes appeared behind the eyelids.

"This is an outrage!" Hiashi roared at seeing the woman carry the Byakugan.

"Guards!" Hiashi screamed and within the blink of an eye two Hyuuga guards appeared in front of him.

"You have called Hyuuga-sama," one of the guards spoke with respect.

"Yes," Hiashi replied and pointed a shaking angry finger at the naked woman on the bed. "Take her away. Throw her into confinement until I can deal with this… this traitor."

"Your wish is our command Hyuuga-sama," the same guard spoke and he and his partner rolled the waking woman into a blanket.

"And tell the Hokage that I'll be seeing him immediately." Hiashi added before the two Hyuuga guards left in their trademark puff of smoke.

**XXXXXX**

Roughly thirty minutes later the door to the Hokage's office violently swung open and an agitated Hyuuga Hiashi swooshed into the room.

"Hokage-sama" Hiashi began but fell quiet as he realized that the Sandaime Hokage was sitting in front of him. Hiashi blinked several times as he wondered if he was imagining things and finally calmed down as he asked, "Pardon the question Sandaime-sama but where is Hokage-sama? Something very questionable happened today. My wife gave birth today to a healthy daughter but she suddenly began to scream out in pain and was surrounded by what the doctor called the Kyuubi's chakra cloak. However, as we weren't paying attention, the baby disappeared and in its place was a young woman and she was completely naked."

"My daughter has been kidnapped," Hiashi bellowed in anger as he continued without pause. "Kidnapped! A Hyuuga was taken away in secret. Now where is Yondaime-sama so he can explain this lack in village security."

"I am afraid Minato-kun won't be available anymore Hyuuga-sama." Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke dejectedly. "The Yondaime Hokage died defending our village against the Kyuubi no Youko."

"Oh," Hiashi mouthed in surprise as he found himself at a sudden loss of words. "I see…"

Sarutobi plucked some of his tobacco leaves out of a small container and slowly scrunched them into his pipe. He lit his wooden construct and took several short puffs in order to feed the small embers with oxygen.

"You mentioned your wife gave birth today?" Hiruzen finally asked as he let go of a trail of smoke. "I was under the impression your wife had still an entire trimester to go before she was ready for delivery."

"Yes that's right," Hiashi answered snidely as his brain started to jump start again. "I was called from the fields of battle by one of my servants telling me that something was happening to my wife and that she was dying."

"Interesting," Hiruzen muttered and motioned for Hiashi to continue.

"Yes well… when I arrived, my wife was unconscious and her belly had drastically expanded. The doctor that had arrived moments later couldn't explain this phenomenon either but after he performed a C-section, the doctor discovered that my daughter was a fully developed and healthy baby."

"Intriguing," Sarutobi muttered as he played with his beard as he was in deep thought. "I have recalled Tsunade-sama to Konohagakure in order to help us out. With your permission, I would like her to inspect your wife and run some scans as well."

"_That's an excellent idea,"_ Hiashi thought quickly. _"If I can get Tsunade to confirm that this wasn't a freak accident and my wife has some unlocked Kekkei Genkai within her genes, screw that lost daughter… I'll just make new ones."_

Clearing his throat, Hiashi decided to play thankful, "Of course Sandaime-sama. Tsunade-sama may inspect my wife as often as needed to discover anything behind this unexpected development."

"Good," Hiruzen said and clasped his hands in front of him as he suckled on his pipe. "About that naked woman that suddenly appeared out of thin air…"

"Yes?" Hiashi drawled with interest.

"I had a similar case happen to me out on the battlefield," Sarutobi said as his eyes closed in concentration. "Tell me, where you able to talk to her at all?"

"No," Hiashi replied. "I called the guards and ordered them to arrest her and throw her into confinement for now."

"Very well," Sarutobi muttered and clanked his pipe into an ash tray. "Was there anything special about this woman that I should be aware of? Appearances? The presence of a Kekkei Genkai?"

Hyuuga Hiashi wavered for a bit as he debated with himself but eventually settled for the truth as he knew the Sandaime would find it out eventually anyways. "The doctor mentioned that she looked awfully a lot like my wife."

"And? Does she?" Hiruzen asked in earnest interest.

"I have to agree there are a few similarities," Hiashi revealed. "However, what concerns me more is that the young woman carries the Byakugan and there are no records of her existence anywhere in our vaults. I checked specifically before coming here."

"I understand the severity behind this discovery," the Sandaime said with authority as he rose from his chair. "I thank you for bringing this to my attention Hiashi-san. I will look into this personally."

"Thank you Hiruzen-sama," Hiashi thanked the Sandaime and watched as the aging man stepped around the desk.

"Since you are already here," Sarutobi began and smiled. "Would you be willing to call the village council into session? There is an interrogation waiting and I want everyone present."

"Of course," Hiashi responded eagerly. "I'll inform everyone personally."

"Very well and thank you Hiashi-san," Sarutobi smiled. "However this is a matter of village security and since I have yet to lift the curfew, I only want the shinobi clans to be present. This is not for the eyes or ears of the civilian populace."

Hiashi slightly frowned but nodded in understanding. "Of course Sandaime-sama."

"Excellent," Sarutobi said and opened the door for his office and waited for Hiashi to step through. "And you can call me Hokage again. I will be taking over for late Minato-kun. See you and the shinobi council in an hour."

"Hai Hokage-sama," Hiashi replied with a bow and quickly vanished behind the next corner.

The Sandaime Hokage closed the door to his office and slowly began to walk out of the Hokage tower in order to take in the damage the Kyuubi attack had done to his village. His thoughts however were on the mysterious naked blond young man and now a naked young Hyuuga woman and their mysterious appearances on this sad and terrible day.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope everyone liked this chapter. It's out earlier than I had originally intended but I remembered that I was leaving for Austria to go Skiing again at the end of the week and I didn't want to let you all wait too long for this update.

I'll apologize for the inaccuracies in regards of C-sections and also any other baby stuff. I was too lazy to research it properly.

I also hope this chapter explains most of the questions that arose during the Prologue. As you can tell, Naruto and Hinata arrived on the day of the Kyuubi's attack. The circumstances off their arrival will be addressed in one of the following chapters, especially Hinata's freak-birth, since she was normally born after Naruto, in December. I took that information from the Naruto wikia, so I hope they are correct.

Let me know what you all think by pushing that nice review button.

* * *

**Translation corner:**

Zeitverschiebung - time shift**  
**


	3. Passage of Time

**Passage of Time**

A New Dawn

Chapter 2

Sitting high above in the dais of one of Konoha's interrogation chambers, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched along with the shinobi council the proceeding of the interrogation of the mysterious Blond that had been arrested not more than a day before. The blond young man was currently sitting below them chained to a cold uncomfortable metal stool, while cast in a blinding light preventing said man to be able to see anything beyond the cone of light he was sitting in. Chakra restraints were placed all around the room and on the skin of the blond man in order to ensure the safety of the occupants and prevent an escape.

Frowning, the Sandaime Hokage massaged his little goatee as his thoughts pondered upon the troubling fact that the chakra restraints that were to ensure the prisoner from escaping, were apparently affecting even him. Theoretically, he was sitting out of the range of the negative chakra bubble that sapped all the energies from the people that were inside it. However, somehow the chakra depletion field had mysteriously expanded to encompass even the dais he was currently occupying.

"Hiruzen," the gruff voice of Danzo entered his ear in a whisper as the aging war hawk leaned closer. "What is the meaning of this? Why have you expanded the chakra field to encompass even us?"

"_Interesting,"_ Sarutobi thought and replied in a soft murmur. "I didn't."

"W-what?" Danzo replied and the surprise was more than evident in his voice. "Then who did?"

Sarutobi slightly shrugged with his shoulders, "If it wasn't you, perhaps Ibiki-san felt it necessary."

"I don't know," Danzo growled and Sarutobi could just depict the scowl his old rival was wearing.

"Or the chakra field expanded on its own," the Sandaime offered and relished in the thought that Danzo had not thought of this possibility.

"Impossible," Danzo muttered in thought. "That would mean that the man down there has a chakra pool equal to a Kage. He is way too young to have developed such a large pool already."

"Indeed," Sarutobi offered in agreement. "However, I can think of two explanations that could bring light into this mystery."

Danzo was briefly quiet and Sarutobi figured his old teammate was deep in thought. A short huff told Hiruzen that Danzo had at least figured out one reason and he waited patiently for Danzo to confirm his own suspicions.

"Are you saying that he could be a Jinchuuriki?" Danzo whispered to ensure only the Hokage could hear and none of the other council members that were present. "But which one and who sent him?"

"That is indeed one of the possibilities I have theorized about," Sarutobi returned in his own whisper. "I don't have the slightest idea which Bijuu this man holds, let alone where he is heralded from. All I know is that he seems to know me, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru."

"Interesting," Danzo replied. "I heard that he also claimed that you weren't real and in fact were supposed to be dead."

"Yes there is also that," the Hokage offered in thought.

"So what was the other possibility behind the increase of the chakra depletion field?"

"That man could possess a Bloodline that gives him a larger than normal chakra pool," Sarutobi replied and leaned forward as a man entered the cone of light. "Ibiki-san seems to be tired of waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Danzo asked as he himself leaned slightly forward as his attention began to drift down to the prisoner and Ibiki.

"I was told that Mitarashi-san injected several truth serums into the prisoner to soften him up for Ibiki-san," Sarutobi replied.

"You did what?" Danzo asked in shock. "You're going to allow allowed torture?"

"What would you have me do Danzo?" Sarutobi asked roughly. "Minato and Kushina are dead and I need to find out what happened to the Kyuubi, let alone what happened to their baby. The only one that can shine any light upon this mystery is that man down there. I need answers and I don't have time to spend the time waiting for Ibiki to do his usual interrogation procedures."

"I am sorry Hiruzen," Danzo apologized which was a very rare occurrence. "You know my stance on interrogations. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know," Sarutobi replied and his voice actually sounded tired. "I just hope Iwa or Kumo won't try and use our current desperation and invade Fire Country."

"I'll send out some of my Root agents," Danzo offered to which Sarutobi only nodded, knowing Danzo had already done so anyways. After all, he knew that Danzo only had the best in mind for Konohagakure, even if it often seemed questionable, especially considering the methods he would use to achieve said security. That was one of the reasons why he allowed Danzo's little operation of the Root program to exist, even after officially declaring it to be disbanded.

"Now let us pay attention," the Hokage addressed Danzo next to him. "Ibiki-san is finally starting."

**XXXXXXX**

"Who are you?" Ibiki's voice drifted up to the dais. "Where do you come from? What happened to the Yondaime Hokage? What did you do to the baby that was in the Yondaime's arms?"

"I am not telling you anything," the rough voice from the man was heard loudly.

"Anko!" Ibiki yelled and a door opened briefly as another person entered the room. "Give him another dosage."

Chuckles escaped the prisoner's mouth, "You can pump me full of drugs as much as you want but it won't do you any good."

"We'll see," Ibiki sneered. "You will talk, I'll guarantee that."

"In your dreams," Naruto spat and hissed as he suddenly felt multiple jabs into his bound wrists.

He could feel the drugs coursing through his system. He felt his veins burn like fire as the poison crept up his arms and entered his torso. _"Fucking Kyuubi,"_ Naruto thought as he clenched his teeth as he fought against the drugs. His eyes fluttered open as he felt the cold touch of metal slowly brush against his jaw.

"How are you feeling sexy?" Anko's seductive voice whispered into Naruto's right ear. "Enjoying this new poison I specifically concocted for you?"

"I have to hand it to you," Naruto grunted out every word as his body was racked in fire. "I haven't felt this kind of tickling before. It almost makes me giggle."

"Is that so?" Anko hushed and nibbled on his ear lobe. "Care to explain your profound sweating and overly concentrated painful expression?"

"J-just your imagination," Naruto hissed as his mind turned foggy. His vision was slowly fading into a blur of lights and shadows. He shook his head once in an attempt to clear his head but found a seductive chuckle in his ear instead.

"Not feeling so well?"

"S-shut up," Naruto snarled and felt his energy sapped from his body. His eyelids became heavy and he shook his head once more. "I… I won't tell you anything."

"We'll see," Anko finished and her voice suddenly distorted into a dark yet very convincing tone, one he felt the urge and need to answer to.

"_Damn it Naruto, pull yourself together."_ He berated himself in his mind as he stood in front of the Kyuubi's cage. _"Where the hell is that damn fox? He should be helping me in nullifying the truth serum."_

"Sweetie-kun," a very sexy voice drifted into Naruto's mind that caused Naruto to look up while he stood in his mindscape.

"_Damn they are starting,"_ Naruto thought and closed his eyes. _"Don't answer them you fool. This is all just a trick."_

"Sweetie-kun will you tell Anko-neechan your name?"

"N-no," Naruto squeezed out in desperation. "This is all just a lie."

"No it's not. Anko-neechan would never lie to you. Now will you please tell Anko-neechan your name?"

"N-No!"

"Purty please…" Anko purred.

Naruto shook his head in desperation in an attempt to clear his muddled mind. "I- I can't," Naruto grunted and breathed heavily.

"Anko increase the dosage," Ibiki turned to the purple headed Jounin.

"Did you hear that sweetie-kun? The big bad wolf wants me to hurt you but Anko-neechan doesn't want to." Anko drawled into Naruto's ear. "If you tell Anko-neechan what she wants to know, she doesn't have to hurt her little Ototo."

"D-do your best," Naruto stammered and hissed as he felt another set of jabs into his wrists.

Naruto groaned as his vision hazed over once more and the distorted voices only intensified. He kept trying to clear his head by shaking it awake but even that movement he was finding difficult as his muscles began to not respond to his command anymore. The sweet seductive voice that belonged to Anko was suddenly replaced by a far gruffer and more threatening one.

"What is your name?" Ibiki demanded to know once more.

"N-N," Naruto's tongue moved as he tried to fight against the drugs in his system.

"What is it?" Ibiki repeated the question.

"Naruto."

"Good," Ibiki growled. "We're finally getting somewhere. What is your complete name?"

Naruto bit his teeth together as he refused to obey but once again his mouth moved against his command. "Naruto," he answered once more and mentally smirked at the small victory of not revealing his complete name.

"No," Ibiki growled and his fist suddenly impacted with Naruto's face. "I want to know your entire name!"

Naruto felt the impact, it hurt, but he barely felt it as he remembered the many times he was at the receiving end of one of Sakura's or Tsunade's powerful punches. He smirked through a split lip, "You punch like a girl."

Naruto's blurry vision kept him from seeing Ibiki's angry scowl, "Where do you come from?"

Naruto snorted in an attempt to buy himself more time to fight off the drugs. "You already know where I come from you bastards."

"So we do?" Ibiki stated more as an afterthought than a question. He turned as he looked up into the dais to see the Hokage give him a nod of approval. "Right… why don't you enlighten me again?"

Naruto chuckled and spat some of his blood that had begun to pool in his mouth onto the floor next to him. "Why don't you make me?"

Naruto felt another fist impact his face and he felt his nose break from the fist that was swung at him. Chortling another serious of chuckles, Naruto pried his eyes open and spat another load of blood and snot onto the ground. "Ninja Registration Zero – One – Two – Six – Zero – Seven – rank of Genin – that is all you will get from me."

"Have it your way," Ibiki growled and nodded towards Anko. "He's all yours; I'll go deal with that other one now."

"_Other one?"_ Naruto thought in interest. "_Did Iwa and Kumo catch someone else? But who, who else is imprisoned here? Are they seeing this farce of a fake Konoha as well? Do they know that this is just an act by the enemy to convince us to divulge information? Shit, I have to get out of here!"_

Anko watched Ibiki leave the room and her eyes fell upon the young blond man and she mentally sighed. She knew that interrogations were necessary, especially considering the current situation the Leaf was in but this was slowly turning into a nightmare. Her eyes went up to the dais and she was surprised to see it deserted of the Council and the Hokage.

"Tsk," she muttered and opened her poison kit. "Guess they are more interested in the woman and whether Ibiki can break her than watch me handle this tough guy."

"W-who did you catch as well?" the man rasped and almost made Anko jump out of her skin at the menacing growl that escaped the blond.

"We don't know," Anko said and her eyes narrowed as she saw the man test his restrains. She quickly pulled out several neurotoxins that would temporarily disable him. "Sorry Ototo-kun, but you didn't answer Anko-neechan nicely and you need to be punished."

A scream of pain bellowed out of Naruto as he felt like thousands of needles were simultaneously stabbed into him and his head lulled forward in unconsciousness.

"Oops!" Anko mused as she saw the blond pass out. She quickly pulled out a syringe and jabbed it into the blond's shoulder. "I can't have you unconscious for the interrogation."

Meanwhile Hinata slowly awoke in a dark room as she felt a small pressure on her right arm. She groaned as her eyes slowly adjusted. "Where am I?" She muttered and her face turned panicky as she realized she couldn't summon forth her chakra.

"That is an interesting question," a gruff voice said from the shadows. "I see you have already realized that we have restricted the use of your chakra."

"Who are you?" Hinata demanded to know and she struggled only to realize that she was restrained to a chair. She tried to peer through the darkness, "Where am I?"

A light suddenly turned on high above her and cast her in a cone of light. She closed her eyes shut quickly as the light blinded her. After a few seconds, she slowly squinted, only to open her eyes completely again.

"Who are you?" the gruff voice that hid in the shadows asked as he ignored her questions.

Hinata frowned and blinked several times in thought. _"What is going on here? Where is Naruto-kun?"_

"Having trouble remembering?" The man that still hid in the shadows asked and suddenly stepped into the light cone. "I can remedy that easily."

Hinata gasped in shock and her eyes went wide in surprise at seeing a certain man with a black bandana and multiple facial scars enter her field of vision. "Ibiki-san? W-what is going on here? I-I saw you die at the hands of some Iwa-shinobi not more than four weeks ago."

Ibiki's face was blank with emotions but in his mind he was as surprised as this woman was at seeing and recognizing him. He turned around to look up to where the dais was and received another nod from his Hokage. His vision returned to the indigo haired woman in front of him and he scowled.

"I assure you," Ibiki started. "I am quite well and alive. However, you have me at a disadvantage, I still don't know you?"

The young woman frowned and tilted her head in confusion as she studied Ibiki. "I don't understand that question Ibiki-san. You know me, it's me Hinata."

"Hinata, is that so?" Ibiki repeated the name as he tried to remember anyone knowing by that name. "Would you happen to have a last name as well?"

"Of course I have a last name," Hinata stated in irritation. "It's me Ibiki-san, Hyuuga Hinata. We fought together in the defense of Konoha against the joint armies of Iwa and Kumo after we had defeated the Akatsuki."

A gasp in the darkness, where the dais was located, drew both Hinata's and Ibiki's attention. The two looked into the darkness but neither could see anything. Ibiki was able to see the Hokage turn around to face someone behind him, which Ibiki guessed must have been the Hyuuga Clan Head.

"Hiashi-san," Sarutobi Hiruzen said at the Hyuuga's sudden gasp. "Is this possible? Do you know who this woman is?"

Hiashi looked stunned as his eyes were focused on the petite woman below them. He quietly shook his head, "This is impossible. This can't be right."

"What's impossible?" Danzo asked as he cut in.

Hiashi looked first at Danzo before settling on the Third Hokage. "Our daughter, my wife and I had planned on calling her Hinata-chan. How is this possible?"

"Interesting," Sarutobi mused as he returned his attention to Ibiki and the woman below him. He slowly stood and walked away only to reappear a minute later next to Ibiki.

"S-Sandaime-sama!" Hinata gasped in surprise as she saw the aging Hokage walk into the cone of light. "Y-you're alive?"

Sarutobi stopped next to Ibiki and frowned. "This has been the second time these past two days that someone said that to me. I assure you, I am perfectly healthy and indeed under the living. Now my dear, your eyes prove that you are a Hyuuga indeed, however, the village, let alone your clan is unable to recognize you."

"W-wait! What?" Hinata stammered in confusion. "What do you mean that my family doesn't recognize me? I am Hyuuga Hinata, born in Konohagakure to Hyuuga Hiashi on December 27th in the year of the Kyuubi attack. I am the heir to the Hyuuga clan and a Chunin in the Leaf armed shinobi forces."

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose quite high on his forehead as he listened to the short summarization of the woman in front of him.

"Did you say you were born on the 27th of December, in the year that the Kyuubi attacked Konohagakure?" The Sandaime asked.

"Hai," Hinata replied. "Why what's wrong?"

"My dear," Sarutobi started. "That is impossible because today is the 12th of October and the Kyuubi attack was two days ago."

Hinata's response to that tid bit of information was to gape. "B-but that's impossible," Hinata muttered as she found her voice again. "Then then that means that this is my past?"

"That is indeed a possibility. Unheard of, but still a possibility," Sarutobi said as his eyes narrowed on the woman and his voice grew stone hard. "Or you are a spy and are trying to infiltrate our village during this chaos."

"Regardless," Sarutobi said and turned towards Ibiki again, not giving the woman a chance to respond. "We'll get to the bottom of this. Ibiki take her to the other one. Perhaps he will be more responsive when he sees her. Do what you must."

"As you wish Hokage-sama," Ibiki replied and roughly pulled Hinata to her feet after the Hokage had left the room. "This way!"

**XXXXXXX**

"Ototo-kun," Anko whispered into Naruto's ear. "Why won't you listen to your older sister and give us the answers we need?"

"None of you are real," Naruto muttered repeatedly.

A frustrated sigh was his reward as Anko rubbed her temples. _"Unbelievable,"_ Anko thought to herself. _"I haven't seen anyone with such mental resistance before."_

Anko was brought out of her musings when the door behind the prisoner opened and watched as Ibiki walked through while dragging the female prisoner along. Knowing what would happen next, Anko stepped out of the cone of light and walked towards her little table full of her utensils. She picked up a bottle with a clear liquid and pushed a syringe into the bottle cap and drew a small amount of the liquid.

"This should clear your mind Ototo-kun," Anko whispered into Naruto's ear again and he felt a soft stab into his arm.

Naruto groaned as he felt like his veins were on fire again but instead of feeling an intense burning feeling, his body was swathed in cold and his vision began to slowly clear.

"Anko is he ready?"

"Yes Ibiki-san," Anko replied as she stepped away and stood beside Naruto.

"W-what are you trying now?" Naruto growled as he lifted his head slowly. He gasped as his eyes suddenly settled onto Ibiki as he stood in front of him with a blind folded dark haired woman in front of him.

"I see you recognize her," Ibiki sneered and roughly pulled the blind fold off the woman's face and was instantly rewarded with a reaction.

"H-Hinata-chan!" Naruto hushed and tried to stand only to realize he was still tied down to the chair.

Hinata heard Naruto's familiar voice and she blinked her eyes rapidly as they adjusted to the sudden light again. Her eyes fell upon the sitting Naruto in front of her, "Naruto-kun!"

"Hinata!" Naruto said her name again and he struggled against his restraints. When they still wouldn't give, his eyes narrowed upon Ibiki, who tightly held the bound Hinata in his right hand. "Let her go or…"

"Or what?" Ibiki asked as he interrupted Naruto. "I want answers and you are in no position to do anything," Ibiki stopped and pulled out a kunai and pressed it against Hinata's throat drawing a light trickle of blood.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated his name in sudden fear as she felt the cold touch of steel against her neck.

"Let her go!" Naruto yelled and again struggled with all his might against his restraints. Naruto growled in frustration and his angry eyes fell upon the kunai at Hinata's neck.

"Naruto," Hinata called out to the Blond and drew his attention to her. "What is going on here? Why is everyone alive?"

"This isn't real," Naruto replied. "Iwa or Kumo must have captured us and this is just a trick to gain information from us."

"Why would they need information from us?" Hinata asked in confusion. "Naruto, Konoha is destroyed. It's no longer a threat to them, so why would they capture us?"

"I… I don't know," Naruto answered dejectedly. "This doesn't make any sense," he continued and Ibiki, Anko, and the Council along with the Sandaime Hokage watched quietly the interaction between the two strangers.

"Naruto, we were truly captured, do you really think they would let each other know that we survived?"

"Iwa would never leave me alive," Naruto said weakly. His eyes turned sad as he looked upon Hinata. "And Kumogakure would probably use you to gain the Byakugan."

"Right," Hinata said. "So what else could this mean?"

"I don't know," Naruto yelled in frustration. "Perhaps Kiri got us and they are just trying to gain information from us on…"

"Why would Iwagakure never leave you alive?" Ibiki interrupted as he realized that the two prisoners were not going in the proper direction of the interrogation.

Naruto's head snapped to look at Ibiki and his sad blue eyes instantly turned to anger. "Because they know who I am," Naruto snapped.

"Then who are you?" Ibiki asked and suddenly pushed the kunai to Hinata's neck deeper and drew more blood.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled and growled.

"Tell me or I will end her life," Ibiki warned and from the corner of his eyes, he could see Anko readying herself with casting a Genjutsu over the Blond as she pulled out a small paper seal that allowed her to use a short burst of chakra before being sapped of the usage of chakra again.

Naruto suddenly closed his eyes and calmed as he sat still. Ibiki turned confused at the sudden reaction and looked at Anko for an answer but only received a shrug from her shoulders. A soft chuckle escaped the Blond and Ibiki's eyes narrowed on him.

"That was a big mistake," Naruto growled and his eyes suddenly opened and they no longer were the ocean blue as before. Now his eye shadow had turned orange, while his pupils had turned yellow. "You might have blocked me from using my chakra, but you cannot stop me from accessing nature itself."

And as Naruto finished, his restraints snapped violently and Naruto shot out of his chair in a blur and slammed Ibiki into the wall as his right hand was tightly wrapped around Ibiki's neck.

"Sage mode?" Hiruzen whispered in shock as he saw the sudden change in the Blond's appearance. And as he finished his thought, he witnessed the man rush Ibiki only to slam the interrogator into the wall and growling at him menacingly.

Before he knew what happened, Hiruzen found himself along with Danzo already jumping down from the dais in order to save Ibiki and subdue the stranger. As he landed, Sarutobi turned to Anko, "Mitarashi-san would you please disable the chakra nullifiers. We are at a disadvantage if we fight this man while he is in sage mode."

"Hai Hokage-sama," Anko replied in shock as she had witnessed the Blond crush his shackles and attack her mentor.

"Hokage-sama!" A soft voice spoke up. "Please untie me and I will stop Naruto."

Sarutobi looked to his left and into the pleading face of Hyuuga Hinata. His gaze was drawn away from her begging face as Naruto growled menancingly, "If you come any closer, this man will die."

"Please Hokage-sama," Hinata tried again as she lay tied up on the ground after Naruto had attacked and pulled Ibiki off her. "There is no need for bloodshed. There is still time to solve this mystery."

"Hokage-sama!" Several voices that belonged to ANBU spoke up as they shunshined into the room. Mostly all of them had their katana's drawn and slowly and carefully surrounded Naruto as he still held on to Ibiki's throat.

"Hold!" Sarutobi addressed his shinobi as he watched a few anxious ANBU readying to attack. He turned towards Hinata and sighed.

"And what gives me the guarantee that you can really subdue him and not just run away?"

"I'll give you my word as a Hyuuga," Hinata replied as she looked up at the thoughtful Hokage. "And where would we run to? We're in the middle of Konohagakure, we wouldn't get very far."

"Truthful," Sarutobi muttered but his eyes narrowed dangerously regardless. "That is unless you seem to have a means of escape that eludes me as of this moment."

"I promise Hokage-sama," Hinata repeated herself. "I will not flee once I am free. I don't want to see any more bloodshed. I have seen enough to last me two life times."

Sarutobi studied Hinata's white eyes and could read the truth behind her words reflected within them. This young woman had knowledge beyond anyone her age and her pale eyes spoke volumes in terms of having seen unspeakable acts. He slowly pulled out a kunai and walked over to Hinata and knelt beside the young woman.

"I hope you do not make me regret this decision Hyuuga Hinata," Sarutobi said and waited briefly. When he received a quick nod from the woman, he cut her restraints with his kunai and stepped away. "Now if you would please restrain your friend Naruto, we might be able to shed some light onto your sudden appearance here in the Leaf."

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

Hinata slowly stood up and massaged her stiff joints before carefully making her way over to Naruto as he still pressed Ibiki against the wall of the interrogation room. She gently placed her soft hand on Naruto's outstretched arm and smiled gently. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto's eyes snapped over to her and she was able to see a grain of relief in his blue angered eyes as he saw her smiling face. "Hinata…"

"Naruto would you please release Ibiki-san?"

Naruto's eyes widened and his hold on Ibiki increased as the scared man gurgled for much needed air. "You're not Hinata, you're just another one of those fakes."

"Naruto it's me," Hinata said as she kept her smile on her face. "Remember me? When Pein attacked Konoha and destroyed it, you were fighting for the village and got captured by the man but not until taking out his other bodies. Remember how I rushed in and stood between you and Pein? Remember what I told you that day?"

Naruto's eyes widened further and Hinata could see the confusion reflected in his ocean blue orbs. "Yes I remember," Naruto answered in a distant whisper as his thoughts were on the moment he watched Hinata get almost killed by Pein.

"Remember how I told you that I loved you," Hinata repeated those words from back in the days.

"Yes," Naruto hushed and the confusion only increased in his eyes.

"You see," Hinata said still with her warm and gentle smile on her face. "Now would you please release Ibiki-san? He's going to die if you won't and Sandaime-sama wishes for this to end without bloodshed as much as I do. I am sure he can shed some light onto our problem."

Naruto's eyes suddenly steeled again, "That is a very good impression off Hinata. I have to hand it to you but it's not entirely a secret that Hinata confessed my love to me during Pein's invasion of Konoha. You could have gained this information from another captured Leaf shinobi."

Now a small frown finally crept upon Hinata's face and she sighed. "Naruto you're impossible. If Sakura-san were here, she would punch you to the moon while calling you an idiot."

"Nice try," Naruto growled. "But Sakura-chan died by your hands. I watched her die, I buried her…"

"No you didn't" Hinata cut in. "We watched her die and it was I that buried her on top of the Hokage monument. I did that for you, for her, and for me. She was a friend, a comrade, and my rival for your heart. She died defending this village, she died defending for what she believed in, and you will not dishonor her sacrifice or the sacrifices of everyone else by being an utterly stubborn fool."

As Hinata spoke to Naruto, her voice rose in anger and as she finished, she suddenly lashed out using the Juuken style of her clan and within a mere second, Naruto's hand released Ibiki and he dropped into Hinata's waiting arms as he was disabled by Hinata's strikes.

"I am sorry Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered into his ear as she fell to her knees with the added weight of Naruto in her arms.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto wept into her chest as his strong wall finally collapsed and released his pent up sorrow that he had accumulated over the course of watching his friends get torn apart by the joint forces of Iwa and Kumo.

"It's going to be alright," Hinata whispered to him as she held him. "Everything is going to be just fine."

"T-thank you," Ibiki rasped as he looked at Hinata from the position where he had collapsed to the floor after being freed of Naruto's vice like grip.

"I didn't do this for you," Hinata replied angrily. "You were foolish to threaten me in front of him."

"We can see that," Sarutobi spoke up as he carefully neared. "I apologize for Morino's actions. He was merely following orders."

"If you really are the Sandaime Hokage," Hinata spoke as she studied the aged man that looked younger than her memories could tell her. "You would have never approved of such means to get answers you seek."

Hiruzen's eyes softened, "Indeed you are correct young Hinata. However, desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures and ever since the Kyuubi ravished our village, we need to be extra careful."

"I understand," Hinata replied but her mistrust was visible in her eyes.

"Now, why don't we start anew," Sarutobi suggested, "Who are you two?"

"Hinata don't," Naruto said. "Don't trust these people, they are all fakes. Konoha is destroyed and we got captured by the enemy."

"I already told you who I am," Hinata replied as she ignored Naruto's ramblings. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata and I was born on the 27th of December during the year of the Kyuubi attack. My father's name is Hyuuga Hiashi and I have a younger sister called Hanabi."

"And what about your mother?" Sarutobi asked and was surprised to see a flash of pain and anger flash across Hinata's face as he asked the question.

"My mother is dead," Hinata replied simply without leaving room for further questioning on the subject.

"I see," Hiruzen muttered and briefly looked up at the stunned face of Hyuuga Hiashi as he watched from the top of the dais. "And what about your companion Naruto? Who is he?"

"Naruto… well… he is…"

"Hinata don't," Naruto interrupted but was again ignored by the lavender haired woman that held him as his chakra was beginning to slowly restore his closed off tenketsu points.

"His name is Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. He is the son of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato and the former Kyuubi Jinchuuriki Uzumaki Kushina. He was born on October 10th in the year of the Kyuubi attack on this village and has ever since the day he was born, protected this village by keeping the Kyuubi no Youko sealed inside him." Hinata offered and was surprised as multiple gasps were heard from the darkness above her. As she turned to look upwards, her eyes widened as she made eye contact with her father. Hinata's eyes watered as she softly called out, "F-father?"

"You're telling me that this man," Danzo spoke up as he appeared behind the Sandaime Hokage. "That this man is the son of our beloved Fourth Hokage and that he is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko?"

"Yes Danzo-san," Hinata sneered in disgust at seeing the war hawk.

"Danzo, if you would please…." Sarutobi interjected and was intrigued at the sudden hostility.

"Right," Danzo nodded in an apology and retreated into the shadows to contemplate all that has happened.

"Now if you would allow me," Sarutobi turned to Hinata again. "Could you tell me what date it is today?"

Hinata frowned and titled her head in confusion. "I wouldn't know the exact date but the day the Leaf fell was September 29th. On that day, Naruto and I were the only Leaf shinobi left alive before… before…" Hinata's eyes widened as she remembered how she and Naruto were readying themselves to rush the Iwa and Kumo forces. She remembered the dark malicious voice and Naruto suddenly collapsing to the ground as he was surrounded by the Kyuubi's cloak. She remembered throwing herself on top of him and pulling him into an embrace as she listened to her own pained screams as the Kyuubi's chakra cloak burned her.

"Is everything alright?" Sarutobi asked in half concern and interest as he watched an air of understanding cross Hinata's face. However, it wasn't until her shocked eyes met his that he could see a terrifying fear in her eyes.

"W-what is going on?" Hinata stuttered. "What year is this?"

"Ah," Hiruzen spoke up interested and smiled. "We appear to be nearing the solution to the mystery."

"Well?" Hinata asked as she was confused about the Sandaime's sudden reaction.

"Today is October 12th and the Kyuubi no Youko attacked… two days ago!" Sarutobi replied once more and humorlessly watched Hinata's expression turn from fear to bewilderment and eventually settled on confusion.

"H-how is that possible? How did we get here?"

Sarutobi laughed, "That is going to be the question for another day."

Hinata blinked as she wasn't expecting such an answer, "W-what?"

She watched the Sandaime turn towards his ANBU and issue orders. "Bring those two to their cells. We will resume our conversation tomorrow."

"Hai Hokage-sama," the ANBU replied and sheathed the swords.

"Now would you please be so kind to follow my men," Sarutobi addressed Hinata as much as he addressed Naruto. "We will talk some more tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to figure out how this all happened and why?"

"O-okay," Hinata mumbled still in confusion and watched how two ANBU carefully took Naruto out of her arms and she gasped in pain as she saw Naruto angrily look at her and she knew that he was furious with her for divulging information and trusting these people. But something deep down, told her that this wasn't fake and very much real, however, time travel was supposed to have been impossible.

**XXXXX**

Sarutobi looked out over his council and smirked. "So who would like to start?"

Silence filled the council chambers and Sarutobi chuckled softly at seeing multiple confused expressions on the councilmembers faces. He slowly studied one after another and eventually settled upon Nara Shikaku.

Nara Shikaku realized the gaze of his Hokage was upon him and as they made eye contact, he received a silent nod to take the floor. A hint of confusion flashed across Shikaku's face in a tiny frown at receiving the floor. Regardless, he slowly stood from his chair and cleared his throat as he folded his hands behind his back. He began to slowly pace the room as his thoughts were slowly turned into words.

"Honorable members," Shikaku started. "I am positive that many questions about this mystery involving the two prisoners have not been answered. And those that we did receive answers to only threw up even more and newer questions."

Shikaku paused briefly and stopped as he turned to face all of his fellow councilmembers fully. "Now let's not kid ourselves, we're probably thinking all the same thing… time travel. I know," he said raising his hand to halt any potential interruption. "Time travel is said to be impossible. However, let us assume that it is possible, what do we know? We know that one would require an immense amount of energy to rip a hole into the fabric of time and create a doorway into the past or future – and even with this standpoint, not everyone agrees."

"What do you mean Shikaku?" Akamichi Choza spoke up.

"Some claim that time travel is only possible, if one travels into the future." Shikaku answered and took on a thoughtful expression. "It is said that time is always in motion and therefore one cannot predict where you would appear if you were to travel into the future. However, this very statement is also a counterpoint that could be used to argue the fact that time travel is possible – to at least travel into the past. The reason is fairly simple, one would already know where one would have to go and especially when."

"Now, regardless of whether we can travel through time," Shikaku said and exhaled as if he was giving up. "We should rather discuss the damage such a meddling with time could bring. It is reasonable to believe that one would be able to influence the past in order to change things for the better in the present. However, it is not possible to truly predict whether if someone changes something in the past that it would have the desired effect in the present."

"That's all fine," Hyuuga Hiashi spoke up. "But what does that have to do with those two people? And what happened to my daughter?"

"It has everything to do with those two people," Shikaku replied. "Hiashi-san the presence of those two people is rather simple… that is if we believe in time travel."

"And why is that?" Hiashi asked again and his frustration was clearly hearable.

Shikaku sighed and briefly closed his eyes before opening them again, "Because the same entities cannot occupy the same space in time and reality. If that Naruto and Hinata, if those two have truly traveled through time, then they had to take the places of their younger selves."

"If I understand you correctly Shikaku," Inuzuka Tsume spoke up. "The baby boy the Yondaime Hokage used in order to seal the Kyuubi no Youko within, has been replaced by this young man?"

"That is correct," Shikaku offered.

"But what about that Hinata woman?" Tsume asked again. "How is she able to be here? If Hiashi-san speaks the truth, his wife wasn't due until December?"

"If I may," Sarutobi finally spoke up and took a puff from his wooden pipe. "I might be able to explain that phenomenon."

"You see," Sarutobi elaborated. "The young woman must have followed the same doorway as young Naruto did and since she only existed as a fetus in her mother's womb at this point, nature, time, or whatever you want to call it, helped out. In order for young Hinata to take shape and replace her younger self, the fetus had to become a living breathing organism. Once that happened, she was able to switch places without endangering her mother. Imagine the young woman replacing the fetus while still in her mother's womb."

Sarutobi visibly shuttered at the thought, "That would have been a gruesome death to both her mother and her self. Therefore, we can assume that this freakish growth spurt of the baby Hyuuga Hinata was a failsafe by nature in order to protect the timeline."

"Why would it protect the timeline Hokage-sama?" Choza asked in irritation.

"Ah yes that little issue," Sarutobi smirked and emptied his tobacco ashes from his pipe. "You have to know another theory about time travel. It is hypothesized that if one were to travel back in time, and actually influence the past, the person's own present will not be affected at all. Instead, a second new timeline would be born that would become the new reality to those that traveled through time."

"Are you saying that we are already in an alternate timeline from where those two came from?" Choza asked in interest and fingered a bag of chips.

"Yes," Sarutobi answered and folded his hands in front of him as he leaned his chin on it. "Their presence here has altered our timeline, but not theirs."

"So we are unable to use those two in order to prepare us for certain events?" Hiashi asked curiously.

"Well," Sarutobi replied and paused as he fingered his goatee in thought. "We can ask them, however, considering our timeline is already diverging from theirs, there is no guarantee that it will really happen. For example, they claimed that a joint army of Iwagakure and Kumogakure destroyed our village and killed everyone. By knowing this, it is already highly likely that this event might never happen in our timeline, but it is not a guarantee that it won't happen. For all I know, Iwa and Kumo could stand in front of our gates tomorrow and destroy us. Clearly that would be different from what had happened in the timeline of our guests, since they are clearly close to their twenties."

"Yet we could gain some interesting intelligence," Danzo asked with a manic grin. "Even if it's not a guarantee that it might happen, we could still use the information and see it as a potential worst case scenario?"

"True," Hiruzen agreed. "So how shall we proceed with those two?"

"It is clear that this Hinata has already figured it out," Shikaku answered and was sitting on his designated chair again. "The Naruto fella however seems to be adamant about the fact that we are not real and just a ploy by his enemies to gain information from him."

"Indeed," the Third Hokage muttered deep in thought. "We definitely need to verify their identities."

"And how do you wish to do that?" Danzo asked as he turned to his old friend and brother in arms.

"We are going to recall Tsunade-chan," Sarutobi replied with a smile. "She should be able to perform a medical examination of the two and also see if their DNA matches that of their supposed parents."

"I take it you have sent Jiraiya-san out to fetch her already?"

"Indeed I have," the Hokage answered. "And when Jiraiya is back, he will also check out Naruto to see if he truly is the jailor of the Kyuubi no Youko."

"And what if he is?" Danzo pushed. "What shall we do if he is the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails?"

"We have to make him understand that this is real and that we are still alive. After that, we ask them if they are interested in joining the shinobi ranks of the Leaf."

**A/N:** Well here is the next update, I hope you enjoy it.


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